Election roundup: Thomas Township Library tax up for renewal

View full sizeKyle CampbellThe Thomas Township Library, 8207 Shields, is up for a renewal of a 0.40 tax that would provide it almost $200,000 in funding in its first year.

THOMAS TOWNSHIP, MI —
One of two millages supporting the Thomas Township Library is up for renewal
Aug. 7, potentially providing the
library with $197,953 in the first year.

If passed, the renewal would maintain the 0.40-mill — a $0.40
tax per $1,000 of taxable property value — rate that township residents have been paying
for more than two decades, library Director Tari Dusek said.

Dusek said the money brought in by the tax would help
the library pay for materials, payroll, utilities, office supplies and all other operating
expenses. The library

receives no funding from the township government, only
through the taxes.

"(Voters should support the millage) because the library is
the heart of the community, and it's a wonderful resource for people of all ages,"
Dusek said.

The tax would stay intact for 10 years, expiring in
2021. On the ballot, the exact language of the renewal will read as such:

Shall the previously voted increase
in the total tax limitation which may be imposed for all purposes upon property
in the Township of Thomas, Saginaw County, Michigan, as provided for in Article
IX, Section 6 of the Michigan Constitution of 1963, as amended, be renewed and
continued at 0.40 mills ($0.40 per $1,000) on taxable valuation of all property
within the Township for a period of ten (10) years from 2012-2021 inclusive to
provide funds for the operation and maintenance of the Thomas Township
Library? The estimated revenue in the
first calendar year the millage is levied is $197,953.